App developers of the world, take note: this is how you do a Material Design update. After quietly hammering away this major update in a private beta, the Pocket Casts team has made it public on their stable channel. Already one of the most popular and well-regarded podcast clients on Android, Pocket Casts has paired their new design with a variety of new features and refinements that make the update more than merely cosmetic.

Pocket Casts is one of the more attractive mobile podcast managers out there, and it's pretty accessible too. The Android app is easy to use, and with a cloud sync account, you can keep up with shows across numerous devices. Now the team is expanding functionality to the desktop as well. A web version of Pocket Casts is on its way, and it's currently available in a private beta.

You have to get permission to use the beta, but once in, here's what you see.

There are plenty of podcast apps on Android, but few are as pretty as Pocket Casts, and it's even better with the most recent update to v4.5. In addition to some UI tweaks, this version adds Chromecast support to the app. That's not even all – Pocket Casts has plenty more goodies in store.

A few days ago, podcatcher Pocket Casts got itself a nice overhaul. The update brought a new UI, tablet support, a ton of new features... everything that one could ask for in a podcatcher. Well, almost everything.

It was missing a widget.

A widget! Every player, reader, and nearly everything else in the entire world has a widget. Needless to say, users were a little bit upset. Nay, they were quite upset.

There are a number of popular podcast solutions on Android, but those apps are about to get some fresh competition with the release of Pocket Casts 4.0. This app has long had solid features, but it wasn't quite able get the same traction as Doggcatcher or BeyondPod. The new version might do the trick, though.

As with the old version of Pocket Casts, this app uses server-based refreshes to keep your podcasts updated.